Biography

Carper was born in Beckley, West Virginia. He grew up in Danville, Virginia and graduated from Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio. Carper attended The Ohio State University on a Navy R.O.T.C. scholarship, graduating in 1968 with a B.A. in economics. [3]

Issues

Political Positions

Gay Marriage

Sen. Carper opposes the Defense of Marriage Act, and has co-signed an amicus brief, urging the Supreme Court to strike down section three of that law.[5]

On April 2, 2013 Carper spoke in favor of gay marriage in a post on his Facebook page. In it he stated, "As our society has changed and evolved, so too has the public's opinion on gay marriage – and so has mine. I pray every day for God to grant me the wisdom to do what is right. Through my prayers and conversations with my family and countless friends and Delawareans, I've been reminded of the power of one of my core values: the Golden Rule. It calls on us to treat others as we want to be treated. That means, to me, that all Americans ultimately should be free to marry the people they love and intend to share their lives with, regardless of their sexual orientation, and that's why today, after a great deal of soul searching, I'm endorsing marriage equality."[6]

Campaign themes

2012

Excerpt: "America has some great doctors, nurses and hospitals, but, unfortunately, Americans aren’t getting the most bang for the buck when it comes to our healthcare system."

Economy

Excerpt: "Three years ago America experienced one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression. Since then we’ve made a lot of progress on the economy, but more has to be done to protect and grow our middle class."

Reducing our Debt and Deficit

Excerpt: "In a time of deficits as far as the eye can see, we have to make a fundamental shift from a “culture of spendthrift,” wherein the federal government spends freely without careful thought, to a “culture of thrift,” whereby we use taxpayer money prudently and to the greatest effect."

Fiscal Cliff

Carper voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of three Democrats that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the Senate by a 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.[8]

Elections

2012

Carper won re-election in 2012. He defeated Keith Robert Spanarelli in the primary. Carper advanced to the general election on November 6, 2012.[9] He defeated Kevin Wade in the general election on November 6, 2012.[10]

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Tom Carper, click [show] to expand the section.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Tom Carper won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Jan Ting (R) and William E. Morris (L) in the general election.[11]

U.S. Senate, Delaware General Election, 2006

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Thomas Carperincumbent

70.2%

170,567

Republican

Jan Ting

28.7%

69,734

Libertarian

William E. Morris

1.1%

2,671

Total Votes

242,972

2000

On November 7, 2000, Tom Carper won election to the United States Senate. He defeated William V. Roth (R), J. Burke Morrison (L), Mark E. Dankof (Constitution) and Robert Mattson (Natural Law) in the general election.[12]

U.S. Senate, Delaware General Election, 2000

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Thomas Carper

55.5%

181,566

Republican

William V. Roth

43.7%

142,891

Libertarian

J. Burke Morrison

0.3%

1,103

Constitution

Mark E. Dankof

0.3%

1,044

Natural Law

Robert Mattson

0.1%

389

Total Votes

326,993

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Carper is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Carper raised a total of $12,265,257 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 3, 2013.[13]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Carper missed 33 of 3,884 roll call votes from Jan 2001 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 0.08%, which is better than the median of 1.7% among currently serving senators as of March 2013.[16]

Congressional Staff Salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Carper paid his congressional staff a total of $2,486,675 in 2011. He ranks 10th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Senatorial Staff Salaries and he ranks 39th overall of the lowest paid Senatorial Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Delaware ranks 39th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[17]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Carper's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $2,015,265 and $6,105,122. That averages to $4,060,193, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2011 of $20,795,450. His average net worth decreased by 11.87% from 2010.[18]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Carper's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $2,058,157 and $7,155,999. That averages to $4,607,078, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2010 of $19,383,524.[19]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Carper ranked 33rd in the liberal rankings among U.S. Senators.[21]

Political Positions

Percentage voting with party

Tom Carper voted with the Democratic Party 93 of the time, which ranked 34 among the 51 Senate Democratic members as of November 2011.[22]

Personal

Carper and his wife Martha reside in Wilmington. They have two sons, Chris and Ben. He commutes by train to Washington, D.C. on a daily basis.[23]

Recent news

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